Fountain pen



meh 28 E95@ c. w. PETERS 25%392 FOUNTAIN PEN Filed Aug. 1, 1945 Y Merz/?'ar'ral W .PeZPs Patented Mar. 28, 1950 UNITED vSTATES PATENT OFFICEFOUNTAIN PEN Carroll W. Peters, Belvidere, Ill. Application; August 1,1945, seria1No..6os,1os

7 Claims. l

This invention relates to fountain. pens, and is more particularlyconcerned with improved filling means.

Fountain pens have usually incorporated'moving parts in their llingmeans, and have usually relied upon a rubber sac or diaphragm, or someother means, to provide a-Water-tight receptacle for the ink. The rubberparts have a relatively short life, and the moving parts are apt to bebroken or damaged even. when reasonably good care is exercised in theuse of thepens, and, hence, expensive repairs or complete replacementsare frequently necessary. It is, therefore, the principal object of myinvention. to provide a fountain pen having no moving parts, one` thatis adapted to be filled by thev application of heat to a heat absorbingmeans on the outer end of the barrel of the pen, using an ordinary matchfor that purpose or a cigarette lighten. whereby to expel air from thebarrel and create a partial vacuum therein upon the cooling'of the heatabsorbing means so as to draw in ink from al Well into which the penpoint has been immersed.

The invention is illustrated in the: accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a longitudinal section throughY a fountain pen made inaccordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional detail of the heat absorbing unit, and

Figs. 3 and 4 are, respectively, an end View and side View of said unit.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding partsthroughout the views.

The barrel 5 of the fountain pen isY of any suitable material, and hasthe usual pen point 6 inserted in the one end thereof With a plug l. Ametal bulb 8 is pressed into a counter-bore 9 in the rear end of thebarrel 5, this being done preferably While the barrel 5 is heated, sovthat the shrinkage incident to the subsequent cooling will make for atighter joint at 9. The joint 9 may, furthermore. besu-itably cemented;to insurel a good seal. The bulb 8 is of any suitable"l non.- corrosivemetal, or of a metal having a suitable non-corrosive coating or plating.The bulb 8 may, of course, be made of any suitable heat conductingmaterial. Inserted in the closed end of the bulb 8 is a bushing I0,which I call an expansion unit or heat absorbing unit. This unitcomprises a split metallic bushing Il, around which asbestos cloth l2 iswrapped and held in place at one end by the curling over and crimping ofone end of the bushing Il, as indicated at I3. This split bushingwrapped with asbestos is compressed radially and entered in the open endCil of the bulb and pushed to the closed end, where the inherentresilience of the metal in the bushing Il will afford suilicientfrictional resistance to displacement of the unit from its properposition in the closed end of the bulb. The bushing II may also be madeof any suitable heat conducting material. The proportions as to size aresubstantially as shown, but may 'be altered .to some extent Withoutdeparting from the invention.

In operation, when heat is applied to the metal bulb 8, the expansion orheat absorbing unit l0 is heated by conduction from the bulb directly tothe asbestos, and from the bulb through the metal bushing Il to theasbestos, and this asbestos, moistened by inl:Y from a -previousfilling, furnishes vapors when heated vvhich.` together with theexpulsion of air due to expansion is sufficient to create in the barrel5 a partial vacuum, when the bulb 8 cools off, so that ink will be drawninto the barrel, assuming that the pen point 6 has been inserted into anink well or bottle for the lling. If the pen point is inserted` into theink well or bottle at the time the heat is applied to the metal bulb,air bubbles vvillV be seen to rise from the pen point as `the heatlproduces the pressure expelling, the air from the barrel and making roomtherein for anh equivalent amount of ink. There being no moving parts toget. out of order, it is obvious that pens made along these lines Willlast indeni-tely. The bulb 8 will preferably be enclosedV by aremovablecap Ill of a plastic material. similar to that used in the barrel 5,`and this cap is removed only while the bulb is being heated andl it maybe pressed into the bulb 8-, or, if desired, may be threaded on the endof the barrel 5. The other cap l5 for enclosing the pen point is ofconventional design, and has the usual -clipf l5 thereon so as to holdthe pen in the pocket with the point up.

It is'believed the foregoing descriptionA conveys a good understandingof the objectsv and advantages of my invention. The appended claims havebeen drawn to cover all legitimate modications and adaptations.

Iclaim:

l. In a. fountain pen comprising a barrel adapted to receive ink andhaving a Writing point on one end supplied with ink from the barrel, athin-Walled metallic bulb on the other end of said barrel adapted to beheated by a llame, and a heat absorbing body in said bulb in heatconducting relation to the Wall thereof and adapted to absorb heat whenthe bulb is heated,

whereby to cause expulsion of air from the barrel so that ink may bedrawn into the barrel to relieve the partial vacuum thus created in thebarrel upon cooling of said bulb.

2. In a fountain pen comprising a barrel adapted to receive writingfluid and having a writing point on one end supplied with writing fluidfrom the barrel, and a uid absorber in the barrel, at least a portion ofsaid barrel being of heat conducting material that is uninjured by thedirect heat of the ame of a match, or the like, said heat conductingmaterial being in heat conducting relation to said fluid absorber,whereby to heat the absorbed writing uid to the point of vaporization. y

3. In a lfountain pen comprising a barrel adapted to receive writingiluid and having a writing point on one end supplied with writing fluidfrom the barrel, a uid absorber inside the barrel at the opposite endfrom the writing point arranged to be wetted when the barrel containsWriting fluid, and means whereby whenv heat substantially equivalent tothat of the name of a burning match, or the like is applied to the fluidabsorber to heat the absorbed writing iiuid to the point of vaporizationit will cause expulsion of air from the barrel, so that writing iluidwill be drawn into the barrel to relieve the partial vacuum created inthe barrel upon cooling thereof.

4. In a fountain pen devoid of mechanical filling means and comprising abarrel adapted to receive ink and havin-g a Writing point on one endsupplied with ink `from the barrel, a hollow bulb of material havingsuitable heat conduc tivity on the other end of said barrel adapted tobe heated lby a flame, and a device in said bulb adapted to absorb heatwhen the bulb is heated, whereby to cause expulsion of air from thebarrel so that ink may be drawn into the barrel to relieve the partialvacuum thus created in the barrel upon cooling of said bulb, the devicein said bulb including a wad of non-inflammable material, adapted to bemoistened by ink and thus produce vapors when the bullo is heated toeffect expulsion of air from the barrel.

5. In a fountain pen devoid of mechanical lling means and comprising abarrel adapted to receive ink and having a writing point on one endsupplied with ink from the barrel, a hollow bulb of a material havingsuitable heat conductivity on the other end of said barrel adapted to beheated by a flame, and a device in said bulb adapted to absorb heat whenthe bulb is heated, whereby to cause expulsion of air from the barrel sothat ink may be drawn into the barrel to relieve the partial vacuum thuscreated in the barrel upon cooling of said bulb, the device in said bulbincluding a wad of noninammable material adapted to be moistened by inkand thus produce vapors when the bulb is heated to effect expulsion ofair from the barrel, said wad being supported on a part made of heatconducting material in heat conducting relation to the bulb.

- 6. In a fountain pen devoid of mechanical filling means and comprisinga barrel adapted to receive ink and having a writing point on one endsupplied with ink from the barrel, a hollow bulb of a material havingsuitable heat conductivity on the other end of said barrel adapted to beheated by a name, and a device in said bulb adapted to absorb heat whenthe bulb is heated, whereby to cause expulsion of air from the barrel sothat ink may be drawn into the barrel to relieve the partial vacuum thuscreated in the barrel upon cooling of said bulb, the device in said bulbincluding a wad of non-inflammable material adapted to be moistened byink and thus produce vapors when the bulb is heated to effect expulsionof air from the barrel, said Wad being supported on a part made of heatconducting material in heat conducting relation to the bulb, said heatconductive part being in the formI of a collar slidable with a close fitinto the bulb.

7. In a fountain pen devoid of mechanical lling means and comprising abarrel adapted to receive ink and having a writing point on one endsupplied with ink from the barrel, a hollow bulb of a material havingsuitable heat conductivity on the other end of said barrel adapted to beheated by a flame, and a device in said bulb adapted to absorb heat whenthe bulb is heated, whereby to cause expulsion of air from the barrel sothat ink may be drawn into the barrel to relieve the partial vacuum thuscreated in the barrel upon cooling of said bulb, the device in said bulbincluding a wad of non-iniiammable material adapted to be moistened byink and thus produce vapors when the bulb is heated to eiect expulsionof air from the barrel, said wad being supported on a part made of heatconducting material in heat conducting relation to the bulb, said heatconductive part being in the form of a split collar of spring materialslidable with a close fit into the bulb, said collar ,being compressedradially for entry in the bulb and tending normally to expand so as togrip the inside Wall of said bulb resiliently.

` CARROLL W. PETERS.

REFERENCES CITED i The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 562,842 Minich June 30, 1896776,106 Beurrier Nov. 29, 1904 1,360,647 Keeren Nov. 30, 1926 2,107,424Platt Feb. 8, 1938 OTHER REFERENCES Ganots Physics, 1898 Ed., page 290,item 297. (In Div. 36.)

